


changing names like outfits

by littlecupkate



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, the pryce/young is implied, wtf is up with miranda pryce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 16:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13617426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlecupkate/pseuds/littlecupkate
Summary: Miranda Pryce is awfully attached to her identity. She doesn’t have much company in that camp.





	changing names like outfits

**Author's Note:**

> Written and posted from my phone and not beta’ed. You have been warned. 
> 
> Relevant Headcanon: Volodin was recruited in 1989, there is no way that he wasn’t more read in than he let on.

_Marcus._ _Marcus. **Marcus.**_  
Pryce drilled into her head. That was the name that Mat— her partner was wearing for this decade. Marcus. Marcus Cutter. Miranda worked hard to make that name come out of her mouth naturally. Just like she did when he named himself William Carter. "Hello, Doctor Pryce." The new Director of Communications at Goddard Futuristics said. He didn’t look as he had when she first met him but if she really strained she could imagine there was something similar in his voice.  
Miranda toyed with the idea that somebody stolen Goddard from her partner, "Good morning Marcus." His smile was different too, can’t have too many of the same mannerisms.  
"May I ask what you are working on, Miranda?"  
"Not yet." If she had her way the answer would be not ever but that’s not how this works. "However if you want to give me some blood and send down Doctor Volodin, I would not object."  
"Of course," Marcus kept all tension out of his voice and Miranda didn’t turn around to see his face pinch up. She did not remove her eyes from the safety of her screen until she heard the elevator doors close.  
_Marcus. Marcus. Marcus._

  
"Dmitri." Miranda called out to the younger man and frowned when he shook his head, "What did he name you now?"  
"Doctor Elias Selberg." Dmitri said in a thick Russian accent. He had been in the states for more than twenty years now, he could have gotten rid of it if he wanted to but he was more like Miranda than Cutter. "What do you need, Doctor Pryce?"  
"A biochemist." Miranda gestured to her lab equipment, "And somebody with steady hands." Dmitri— _Selberg_ was only a decade or so younger than Miranda but it turned out that made a big difference. His hands were less wrinkled and steadier. He did not have to wear coke bottle glasses. Her eyes were absolutely the first thing she planned on fixing.  
Selberg nodded and listened carefully to Miranda’s instructions before following them without flaw or question. Occasionally he would mutter something or other about chemical makeup or the feasibility of a plan. Miranda did not mind it. She had a respect for the other scientist that outweighed her hubris. "How would you suggest administering it?"  
"Into nervous system. Carries... risks however."  
"That’s the one that we’ll do then." Miranda smiled, not as an expression of friendliness but rather a sign of her satisfaction. "Tomorrow."  
"Yes, Doctor."  
"You’re dismissed now Dm— Doctor Selberg." Miranda looked back at her computer and started to construct an ocular system. _Elias_ would need assistance to complete the surgery but she could deal with the problem when the time came.  
Miranda wrinkled her nose and dumped her nightime pills in her hand before swallowing them dry. One for bone strength, one to delay memory lost, one to control her arthritis. She couldn’t wait to throw them all away.

  
"Mr. Cutter is sending me on a deep space mission." Selberg told her the next day, right after he gave her the injection. "I will not be able to be your surgeon this time."  
Miranda sighed loudly. This was retribution for refusing to tell Marcus what she was doing, "Of course he is." She shoved a tablet into Selberg’s hands, "This AI should be able to do it, correct?"  
"I— I don’t know, Doctor Pryce. This code is... complex." Miranda sighed again, she sometimes forgot that other people were not at her level. "You do not want a human surgeon to do the procedure?"  
"I don’t want any of _Marcus’s_ surgeons to do the procedure. I’m not fond of his little gifts." Miranda knew that Selberg agreed, even if he refused to express it. He knew better than to speak against her ‘partner.’ He did not have the bit of immunity she possessed. "How long do we have?"  
"Theoretically? A few months, but the sooner the safer."  
"Naturally," Miranda ruffled through her desk. Elias caught the pill bottle when it shook out of her hands, "That’ll keep you alert enough to help me every night, after whatever Marcus has planned for you."  
"The surgery should-"  
"I know how it _should_ be done, Dmitri." Miranda snapped, "But obviously that’s not how we are going to do it."  
"Yes, Doctor."  
"Good, take one of those pills. We’re starting now."

  
By the time Selberg departed, Miranda’s wrinkles were disappearing and her hair was thicker and a deep brown instead of grey or white. Long ago she had ditched her glasses for a pair of mechanical eyes. Miranda didn’t love Cutter’s personality and had to constantly shooed him away from her lab until it finally sunk in that she was not to be disturbed.  
Instead, Cutter sent down his new assistant whenever he wanted something. She was pretty but unremarkable, the kind of person that just slipped out of your mind when they walked away. Her eyes were cold and analytical, Miranda noted them as the only feature worth remembering.

"Miss Young. You can put those bags right over there for me."  
"Below where it says ‘Dangerous: Highly Toxic Materials,’"  
"Precisely,"

  
For months that was the extent of their interactions. Miranda did not ever look in her direction and gave off the type of frosty atomsphere that made it clear she was not valued here.  
It was only when her long-time lab assistant returned that Miranda gave Rachel the time of day and then only because she was the better messenger, "Doctor," Miranda nodded to the man as he got off the elevator. It was the safest address. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the people next to him, "Kepler, I hope you just got on the wrong elevator." Her voice was cold, as it always was to unexpected visitors, "I have no use for you."  
"Mister Cutter wanted me to-"  
"Marcus can mind his own business." Miranda interrupted then pressed a few keys, "Step off that elevator and I’ll have you turned to dust." Warren Kepler froze up before trying again,  
"Ma’am-"  
"Doctor," Three voices corrected him in unison.  
"Doctor, Mister Cutter would really like to-"  
"No." Miranda interrupted again, "I do not allow inelegant military brutes in my lab. If Marcus really wants something then Miss Young can communicate it, correct?"  
"Yes, Sir!" Rachel replied smugly, "Bye Warren." She pressed the button for the fifth floor before gracefully stepping out of the elevator.  
"Doctor Pryce?" Dmitri looked her up and down with a critical eye, attempting to find any flaws in their experimental treatment, "You look remarkably well."  
"Not a day over thirty," Rachel said cheerfully and held up a file, "Which is what Mister Cutter would like to talk about."  
Miranda scoffed, "He already has his own fountain of youth."  
"It’s not that," Rachel flipped open the file, "He would like me to ask if, quote, ‘you are done doing your best hunchback of Notre Dame impression.’ end quote. Mister Cutter has drawn up a new identity for you."  
Miranda sighed heavily, "Dmitri, what identity did Marcus give you now?"  
"Alexander Hilbert,"  
Miranda shook her head in disgust, "Doesn’t even sound Russian" She picked up a tablet and handed it to Dmitri, "Check that out for me?  
"Da," He started to slowly scroll through the mass of complicated equations Miranda had planned out.  
"Miss Young, Marcus does not make very good identities, no matter what he thinks. The shredder is right there."  
Rachel shredded the file without question and waited for the noise to die down before speaking again, "If you would like to come up with your own identity, I am sure Mister Cutter will have no objection."  
"To put it in words he will understand, I still can’t stand up straight." Miranda said as she did just that, "And remind him of the many times he said his job is making sure I can do mine. This is how I do my job."  
"Very well, Sir," Rachel sighed, "Hilbert, Mr. Cutter would also like to talk to you,"  
"No," Miranda interjected before he could even stand up, "I am request— no, no, _demanding_ use of Doctor Hilbert until hour of launch."  
"I will... communicate that to Mister Cutter." Rachel said, her demeanor showing that she was making no promises for what came afterwards. She backed into the elevator, not taking her eyes off the two scientists. Not really in suspicion but an abundance of caution.  
"These lab results are... most unusual." Dmitri commented once Rachel had departed, "Am I correct in assuming-"  
"They came from Marcus, yes." Miranda replied shortly, "Can you figure out a way to replicate the results?"  
Dmitri hesitated, "Doctor, even if I can, it will no longer work on you."  
"I am aware, Dmitri." Miranda glared, "I am not looking to use it on anything but my heart."  
"Pig’s valve. Right." Miranda’s glare sharpened but he was already too into doing calculations to notice. Miranda fell back into her desk chair and started to code something new while Dmitri muttered to himself. She would know when he had a breakthrough. He wasn’t exactly quiet about it.

  
It took a year and a secret back channel that even Marcus did not know about but Dmitri did have a breakthrough. It wasn’t the one that she wanted.  
"Cellular replication won’t work without some way to stop it. Otherwise overactive-"  
"I know the science behind it, Dm— Doctor..." _Alexander Hilbert. **Alexander Hilbert.** Alexander Hilbert._ "Doctor Hilbert. I won’t die before you find a way to control it."  
The line was quiet for a minute, "I am not sure that is true, Doctor Pryce." It was said with a gentleness that disgusted her, "You are due for another replacement soon but with the modifications to your body it is unlikely anyone or thing will be enough of a match..."  
"And this is where our works intercept." Miranda acknowledged, "I need you back here." They both knew that was impossible. No matter what trick Dmitri tried to use it would still result in him staying in space.  
Rachel found her later that day destroying some of her best work in a fit of rage. "Would you like help tidying this up?" She asked calmly and Miranda composed herself.  
"No, Miss Young." Miranda smoothed back her hair, "However if you wouldn’t mind passing me the shredder..."  
"Sir?"  
"There are some plans that I do not want anyone else to use." Miranda was mildly surprised to find she did not mind Rachel being with her. "Thus, I shred."  
"Do you think you might want to talk with Mister Cutter before taking such an extreme step?"  
"No, Rachel," Miranda’s voice grew cold when she mentioned her ‘partner.’ "This is my work, not the company’s." Rachel looked conflicted and Miranda sighed, "Go tell your boss. I’ll be done with this by the time Marcus comes down."  
Rachel’s lips twisted, "I don’t think this is a very wise course of action." She moved towards Miranda, "But, wouldn’t fire be a better way to ensure its really gone?"  
"Still does well to shred them first." Miranda motioned to the shredder and Rachel finally picked it up and came to sit next to her. They sat in relative silence for a while before Rachel asked a question that was almost foreign to Miranda. It had been a long time since the words were used around her, and even longer since she heard them with sincerity:  
"Do you want to talk about it, Doctor?"  
Miranda laughed. Did she want to talk about it? Did she want to talk about finding her own fountain of youth just to find out it wouldn’t save her? Did she want to talk about her heart failing in a few months? Did she want to talk about her determination to not turn into an **it**? Did she want to talk about how Marcus kept naming her creations and how that fucks everything up? Did she want to talk about how the plans she was shredding were to make a perfect body? That she was shredding them because she knew Marcus would outfit them with an AI? Did she want to talk about how important her life and identity were to people who treated theirs as disposable? Those who viewed AI’s as human-like tools? That thought giving them personalities would be fun while they also had her create a device to strip away a real human’s mind?  
Maybe.  
"What was your birth name?"  
"Rachel Young."  
"No. I don’t want to talk about it."

**Author's Note:**

> I am not sure if this’ll seem out of character but Miranda Pryce just _fascinates_ me. I’m not sure if it was just a doctor-ing instinct but the fact that she admonished Victor for having the Hermes crew work so long, that she turned off their pain receptors which was probably not needed, and how she almost seems frustrated by Victor replying that they will all die anyhow... it just seems like she actually values human life. But she also has such a sharp line between human and not-human and it seems like she _needs_ that line in place and enforces it anyway she can... referring to AI only by their number, insists on ‘it,’ etc (she is so not the person that thought giving them personalities was a good idea). I have so many theories before I even get into her partnership with Cutter which is a ton to unpack.


End file.
